How to Notarise an Export Document in Australia

Sort the bundle by who issued each document before booking anyone. Documents your company issues, such as the commercial invoice or a manufacturer's declaration, are signed by an authorised officer in front of a notary, then taken to DFAT. Government certificates can often go to DFAT directly, and chamber documents follow the chamber's route.

Key takeaways

• "Notarised and legalised export documents" usually means a bundle, not one document, and each document may take a different route.
• Government-issued certificates are public documents that DFAT can often legalise directly, with no notary.
• Chamber of commerce documents, such as many certificates of origin, follow a route the chamber can explain.
• Company-issued documents are private documents. A notary attests the officer's signature and authority before DFAT acts.
• The notary attests who signed, not the product. Details must agree across every document before anything is signed.

What the request usually means

When an overseas buyer, bank or import authority asks for "notarised and legalised export documents", it rarely means one document. It usually means a set: a certificate of origin, a commercial invoice, a packing list, perhaps a free sale certificate or manufacturer's declaration, and sometimes a government export certificate for food, agricultural or other regulated goods. The request often comes from a buyer's bank under a letter of credit, from the destination's customs or ministry, or from the importer's own compliance team.

The common mistake is treating the whole set as one job and sending all of it to a notary. Different documents take different routes, and some should not go to a notary at all. This page is about the documents that travel with a shipment. The one-off documents needed to enter a new market, such as distributor appointments and product registrations, are covered in export documents for a new market.

Sort the bundle by who issued each document

This is the point specific to export documents, and doing it first saves the most time and money.

Government-issued certificates. Export certificates issued by a Commonwealth or state agency are Australian public documents. DFAT's page on the documents it can legalise includes Australian government commercial documents, naming ASIC, ATO and TGA documents as examples, and other government-issued documents. For those, DFAT confirms the issuing official directly and no notary is involved. Ask DFAT, or the issuing agency, whether your certificate qualifies, particularly if it was issued electronically, before paying a notary to handle it.

Chamber of commerce documents. Certificates of origin are commonly issued or endorsed by an authorised chamber of commerce. Some destinations want the chamber document legalised, and DFAT's list includes documents issued by an authorised Australian chamber of commerce and industry. The chamber usually knows what each destination expects and whether a notary has any part to play. Ask the chamber first. Certificates of origin and a notary covers that document in detail.

Documents your company issues. The commercial invoice, packing list, manufacturer's declaration, product specification and any free sale statement you draft yourself are private documents. Before DFAT will act on them, a notary has to attest the signature of the officer who signed them. This is the notary's part of the bundle.

Specialised government certificates, such as export health or phytosanitary certificates for food and agricultural goods, are issued through the Department of Agriculture's own systems. A notary cannot issue or endorse them, and many importing countries receive them electronically, government to government. Ask the department and your importer what the destination expects before assuming anything needs a notary.

The notary attests the signature, not the product

A free sale certificate or manufacturer's declaration typically states that a product is made in Australia, is lawfully sold here, or meets a standard. A notary cannot verify any of that and does not try to. The notary attests who signed the statement, and that the person had authority to sign for the company.

The statement itself is the company's. Depending on the destination, the officer may be asked to make it as a formal declaration, and making a false declaration has consequences for the person who makes it. Where an importing authority wants product claims independently verified, what it needs is a government certificate or a report from a testing or certification body, not a notarial certificate. A notary can certify a copy of such a report from the original, if the authority accepts a copy.

Who signs, and on what authority

For company-issued documents, the signatory attends in person with:

• photo identification, preferably a passport;
• evidence that the company exists, usually a current ASIC extract;
• evidence of their authority to sign export documents: being a director shown on the extract, or a board resolution or delegation naming them.

If you export regularly, a standing resolution naming the people authorised to sign export documents saves producing fresh authority evidence for every shipment. Ask the notary whether they can rely on it at later appointments, and keep it current when signatories change. Board resolutions and a notary explains how such resolutions are prepared, and company and individual notarisation covers what the notary checks.

Make the bundle consistent before anything is signed

Exporter and consignee names, addresses, goods descriptions, tariff classifications, quantities, weights and values must agree across every document in the set, and with the letter of credit if there is one. A notary will not cross-check them. The importing authority, or the buyer's bank, will.

One inconsistency found after legalisation usually means redoing that document's whole chain, and sometimes the others that refer to it. Check the set line by line first. Where the destination wants documents in its own language or in bilingual form, prepare those versions before the notary, so the notarised document is the one that will be presented. A translation made afterwards is a separate document with its own chain; see document translation.

Apostille, authentication and the embassy

Company documents, once notarised, go to DFAT. For a country in the Hague Apostille Convention, DFAT issues an apostille, a certificate confirming the notary's signature and seal. For other countries, it issues an authentication certificate, and the destination's embassy or consulate then legalises the document by confirming DFAT's signature. Check the destination on the HCCH status table on the day. No notary can issue an apostille; see apostille and authentication.

Legalisation is handled per document, not per shipment. Some embassies want the whole bundle submitted together, some have their own application forms, and some have requirements particular to commercial documents, such as a chamber endorsement first. Contact the embassy before DFAT returns anything to you, so the next step is ready.

Build the chain into the shipping timeline

Legalisation can take longer than the voyage, particularly where an embassy step is involved. If documents must accompany or precede the goods, or payment depends on presenting them to a bank, start the chain as soon as the documents can be finalised, and do not assume it can be completed after the goods have left. Check the current processing arrangements with DFAT and the embassy rather than relying on past experience.

Document	Usually issued by	Usual route
Commercial invoice	Your company	Notary, then DFAT, then any embassy
Packing list	Your company	Notary, then DFAT, if the destination wants it legalised
Certificate of origin	A chamber of commerce	As the chamber advises
Manufacturer's or free sale declaration	Your company	Notary, then DFAT
Government export certificate	A government agency	Ask DFAT; often no notary

Preparing for the notary, step by step

1. Get the buyer's or authority's list in writing, including which documents must be legalised, how many originals of each, and whether any must be in the destination's language.
2. Sort the list by issuer: government, chamber, company, or third party such as a testing laboratory.
3. Send government and chamber documents on their own routes, after checking with DFAT and the chamber.
4. Finalise and cross-check the company documents against each other and against any letter of credit.
5. Book the notary for the authorised signatory, who brings identification, a current ASIC extract and any resolution, and signs each document at the appointment, not before.
6. Lodge everything with DFAT together and have the embassy's requirements ready for the next step.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A Queensland machinery maker ships its first order to a buyer in a country outside the Hague Convention. The buyer's bank asks for a legalised commercial invoice, certificate of origin and manufacturer's declaration. The exporter checks the three documents against the letter of credit and finds the consignee's address spelt two ways, which it corrects before anyone signs. The chamber issues the certificate of origin and explains its own route. The company's director signs the invoice and declaration before a notary, bringing her passport and a current ASIC extract showing her as a director. DFAT authenticates the notary's certificates and the embassy legalises them, and the originals reach the bank before the goods arrive.

In short

Sort the bundle by issuer before booking anyone. Government certificates can often go to DFAT directly, chamber documents follow the chamber's route, and company documents are signed by an authorised officer before a notary and then legalised. Make every detail match first, and start the chain early. For the invoice itself, see notarising a commercial invoice.

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Holding a buyer's list of export documents to legalise? Send us the list and the destination, and we will explain each step before you book.